lol @ the commercial. Falco wasn't german, though.
Flux, well it's already included in the solder, and the more you use, the more impure the joint will be, making it weaker. Additionally, it can harm the board.
Soldering Supplies Questions
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Kurt_
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Kyo, stop poisoning his mind with your ideals.
Flux is just as important a tool in soldering than the solder or the iron itself. It removes oxides from the surface of the metal (or solder), allowing the solder to bond to the joint five million times better (Actual number: 4,998,753x) I could not live without flux. It makes things like desoldering a nightmare.
Flux is just as important a tool in soldering than the solder or the iron itself. It removes oxides from the surface of the metal (or solder), allowing the solder to bond to the joint five million times better (Actual number: 4,998,753x) I could not live without flux. It makes things like desoldering a nightmare.
Hey, sup?
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bicostp
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Yay a new sigquote!Kurt_ wrote:I could not live without flux. It makes things like desoldering a nightmare.
I never use flux. Solder flows with heat, not flux.
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Kurt_
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Erm...What I meant is that flux is my hero. Without it, desoldering is a nightmare.
Now to distract you from changing your sig.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnhLtB3n ... playnext=1
Riki-oh is my new hero. He punches through people on many occasions, more than one person is force-fed through a meat grinder, and one guy guts himself and tries to strangle riki with his intestines. It's an hour an a half long, and none is wasted on small talk.
Right from the get go, there's a scene in the jail's bathroom where there's a 2x4 with 4" nails sitting on the floor in a bathroom, along with an old man who happens to have a wood plane. Also in the same bathroom.
Now to distract you from changing your sig.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnhLtB3n ... playnext=1
Riki-oh is my new hero. He punches through people on many occasions, more than one person is force-fed through a meat grinder, and one guy guts himself and tries to strangle riki with his intestines. It's an hour an a half long, and none is wasted on small talk.
Right from the get go, there's a scene in the jail's bathroom where there's a 2x4 with 4" nails sitting on the floor in a bathroom, along with an old man who happens to have a wood plane. Also in the same bathroom.
Hey, sup?
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bicostp
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Soldering iron:
Don't get either of those. Low wattage irons take forever to heat up and lose heat fairly quickly. Get one that's at least 40 watts. I prefer 60 (that's what our Weller is), but at that point it takes some finesse to do small parts.
Flux:
Don't bother with this crap.
Desoldering braid:
The standard size they sell at Radio Shack is more than enough. The one I have is no-clean size #3. But to be honest, I prefer a desoldering bulb for most jobs, or to scoop off bits of molten solder using the iron tip.
Solder:
Thinner solder will give you more control, but you'll use more of it length-wise a lot of the time. I mostly use 0.020 rosin-core solder (there's your flux), and another one that's a bit thicker. Don't bother with lead-free solder; it doesn't melt for crap. Besides, lead only causes cancer in California.
Don't get either of those. Low wattage irons take forever to heat up and lose heat fairly quickly. Get one that's at least 40 watts. I prefer 60 (that's what our Weller is), but at that point it takes some finesse to do small parts.
Flux:
Don't bother with this crap.
Desoldering braid:
The standard size they sell at Radio Shack is more than enough. The one I have is no-clean size #3. But to be honest, I prefer a desoldering bulb for most jobs, or to scoop off bits of molten solder using the iron tip.
Solder:
Thinner solder will give you more control, but you'll use more of it length-wise a lot of the time. I mostly use 0.020 rosin-core solder (there's your flux), and another one that's a bit thicker. Don't bother with lead-free solder; it doesn't melt for crap. Besides, lead only causes cancer in California.
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I want to invest in a nice iron, since the cheap ones can't desolder off my xbox 360 board for crap.
http://www.rpelectronics.com/Default.as ... 936-12.asp
Is that a good deal, and the best in it's price range? I've heard some good things about it...Will it be good to desolder things off the xbox 360 motherboard?
It should be better than this hakko right?
http://www.rpelectronics.com/Default.as ... 936-12.asp
Some people have been telling the hakko is great as well, but although the weller is more expensive, I would be willing to buy it because I can get it local for the same price, so if it's worth it I'll pick it up.
http://www.rpelectronics.com/Default.as ... 936-12.asp
Is that a good deal, and the best in it's price range? I've heard some good things about it...Will it be good to desolder things off the xbox 360 motherboard?
It should be better than this hakko right?
http://www.rpelectronics.com/Default.as ... 936-12.asp
Some people have been telling the hakko is great as well, but although the weller is more expensive, I would be willing to buy it because I can get it local for the same price, so if it's worth it I'll pick it up.
Last edited by aj23 on Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I concur. I was working on a tough solder job where the wires do get a bit of stress on them and their connection point and would keep ripping off, solder and all. I eventually tried using flux and it melted the solder to a higher degree than I was getting with just the iron alone. Rather than getting a ball of melted solder that would just kinda sit there, it melted into a pool of solder with greater surface-area/volume ratio. I haven't had problems with the solder ripping off the component since the use of flux.Kurt_ wrote:Just so everyone is aware, I FULLY SUPPORT THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF FLUX.
Woah I just skipped to writing my own post when the flux flame war erupted.
If you dont want my opinion either then keep scrolling.
Flux is TOTALLY useful alright so dont talk shiet about it. Most of us have it inside our solder, which is also totally useful. No one here is really wrong. If you are just joining wires you can do it all day with just some solder, a wet sponge, and a dirty old iron.
However, extra flux is essential when you are doing certain kinds of work, like very small SMD stuff. It does something to the surface tension of the liquid metal, ie it allows it to form perfect droplets instead of gooey threads that will short together fine pitch SMD pads. The flux inside your solder is nice, but when you are doing an SMD job you cant just keep adding more solder if your flux burns away, or all your pins will become one giant blob. At work we have a flux pen and it fixes every single problem I think I have.
That said, it does mess up your work a lot with gummy brown crap, and you cant wash it off without leaving ugly white residue. You dont want to just pour it on if you dont have to.
The flux Im talking about is rosin or some kind of non-corrosive non-conductive material in a solvent, its meant for this kind of work. Plumbers flux paste or certain kinds of other more "industrial" products corrode and conduct and will destroy everything. The pen i got for $4 from digikey is some chemical that evaporates instantly and leaves no residue.
Desoldering braid is great and it works so well because it comes pre-fluxed. If it seems like its not sucking then just add some flux. im serious. or add some solder from your spool if you dont have any flux, but that seems like a waste of your braid doesnt it...
Do you see what Im saying? Its a tool that belongs on some peoples workbench, some people need it and dont have it, some people dont and use way too much. I used to use acid paste flux until kurt fried a SNES with it.
Oh and kyo said something about poisoning the joint with flux... ok... i guess... but we aren't making mechanical welds with steel here. I think that concept is more applicable for real welds (soldering is not welding. neither is brazing). You arent going to change the conductivity of the metal with flux, and the strength of the joint is trivial when it only has to hold up 100 miligrams of integrated circuit.
If you dont want my opinion either then keep scrolling.
Flux is TOTALLY useful alright so dont talk shiet about it. Most of us have it inside our solder, which is also totally useful. No one here is really wrong. If you are just joining wires you can do it all day with just some solder, a wet sponge, and a dirty old iron.
However, extra flux is essential when you are doing certain kinds of work, like very small SMD stuff. It does something to the surface tension of the liquid metal, ie it allows it to form perfect droplets instead of gooey threads that will short together fine pitch SMD pads. The flux inside your solder is nice, but when you are doing an SMD job you cant just keep adding more solder if your flux burns away, or all your pins will become one giant blob. At work we have a flux pen and it fixes every single problem I think I have.
That said, it does mess up your work a lot with gummy brown crap, and you cant wash it off without leaving ugly white residue. You dont want to just pour it on if you dont have to.
The flux Im talking about is rosin or some kind of non-corrosive non-conductive material in a solvent, its meant for this kind of work. Plumbers flux paste or certain kinds of other more "industrial" products corrode and conduct and will destroy everything. The pen i got for $4 from digikey is some chemical that evaporates instantly and leaves no residue.
Desoldering braid is great and it works so well because it comes pre-fluxed. If it seems like its not sucking then just add some flux. im serious. or add some solder from your spool if you dont have any flux, but that seems like a waste of your braid doesnt it...
Do you see what Im saying? Its a tool that belongs on some peoples workbench, some people need it and dont have it, some people dont and use way too much. I used to use acid paste flux until kurt fried a SNES with it.
Oh and kyo said something about poisoning the joint with flux... ok... i guess... but we aren't making mechanical welds with steel here. I think that concept is more applicable for real welds (soldering is not welding. neither is brazing). You arent going to change the conductivity of the metal with flux, and the strength of the joint is trivial when it only has to hold up 100 miligrams of integrated circuit.
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